Scraper



Dec. 20, 1932. R. 6. LE TOURNEAU SCRAPER Filed March 25. 1932 3Sheets-Sheet l 1 r a W 8 i w .R.

ATTORNEY Dec. 20, 1932. R. (5. LE TOURNEAU SCRAPER Filed March 25, 19323 Sheets-Sheet 2 IFA ll @W MWMN l/ILIII/IlAAFlll/II/IIL INVENTOR R L T4) wwzwmu ARNEY 3 mm fiw NAM Dec. 20, 1932. R. G. LE TOURNEAU SCRAPERFiled March 25, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR R G.L Tourneau -BY mATT-ORNEY Patented Dec. 20, 1932 PATENT OFFICE ROBERT G. LE TOURNEAU, FSTOCKTON, CALIFORNIA SCRAPER Application filed March 25, 1932. SerialNo. 601,145.

This invention relates to scrapers and particularly toone of the samegeneral character as shown in my Patent No. 1,857,157, dated May 10,1932, and which was filed January 5, 1931 under Serial No. 506,521.

In the previous scraper the bowl was provided with a rear endgateadapted for forward movement so as to push the load from the front endof the bowl to discharge the same. I found however that due to the greatresistance offered by the dirt to its being pushed back on to the bowlwith the forward movement of the scraper, that the amount I of dirtwhich could be pushed into the bowl by the direct power of the tractorwas considerably less than the actual capacity of the bowl and which thetractor could easily haul once the bowl was loaded. The bowl could ofcourse be thus loaded to capacity with the use of an excessivelypowerful tractor but this would increase the cost of operationsconsiderably.

The principal object of my present invention therefore is to provide ameans to enable the bowl to be loaded to capacity with the use of atractor of moderate size so that the full capacity of the bowl could beutilized without any excessive power being necessary in accomplishingthe desired result. Essentially this means consists of a front endgatepositioned clear of the dirt when the bowl is being partially loaded bythe advancing movement of the scraper, and connected to the tractor witha power increasing tackle so that the power of the latter could be usedto great advantage to push the gate rearwardly. The gate would thenengage and force the heaped up pile of dirt which is partly in the bowland partly on the ground ahead entirely into the bowl. A further rearmovement of the endgate then causes the dirt to be discharged from therear end of the bowl. This is also an advantage over front end dumpingin a scraper of this type since it is not necessary to raise the rearend of the bowl any great height in order that the discharging dirtshall be kept clear of the bowl as is required in front end dumping.

These objects I accomplish y means of such 50 structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a scraper in its loading position:

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same showing the endgate moved topush the dirt into the bowl. 6

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the scraper with the parts as in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross section on the line 44 of Fig.3.

Fig. 5 is a side view of a stepped cable drum for the endgate returncable.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the drum and the adjacent endof the gate carriage showing the carriage fully advanced.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the frame of the scraper comprises a longitudinal horizontalbeam 1 supported at its front end by a steerable pony truck 2, adaptedto be directly attached to the hauling tractor. Transverse beams 3extend over and are secured to the beam 1 at intervals and support thebowl which comprises side plates 4 secured to and depending from thebeams 3, and a bottom plate 5 terminating in a downwardly deflectedcutting blade 6 disposed some distance rearwardly of the forward edgesof the side plates.

The bowl and consequently the frame are supported at the rear end bytransversely 85 spaced wheels 7 journaled in arm units 8 swivellyconnected for vertical movement to the sides of the bowl at the back.Adjustment of the arms and wheels to alter the level or tilting of thebowl is controlled by a 99 cable actuated mechanism indicated general.-ly at 9. Since this mechanism is essentially the same as shown anddescribed in the aforementioned patent it is not thought necessary todescribe the same in detail here as it forms 93 no part of the presentinventon.

Extending along and secured against the sides of the beam 1 are rails ortracks 10. Where they are directly over the bottom of the bowl, theserails are substantially paral- 100 lel to said bottom but ahead of thebowl they slope upwardly at a decided angle as at 10a to their forwardtermination, as shown in Fi s. 1 and 2. Longitudinally spaced sets ofroIlers 11 disposed on transverse horizontal axes ride on the rails,these rollers being mounted on and supporting the side bars of acarriage 12, said bars being disposed on opposide sides of the beam 1.The carriage also has other rollers 13 mounted on vertical axes andadapted to engage the sides of the beam 1 to hold the carriage againstlateral deflection.

Arms 14 depend from the front end of the carriage and are rigidtherewith, said arms supporting a transverse endgate 15 preferablydisposed with a forward slope toward the top. The gate, Carriage andrails are so disposed relative to the cutting edge of the bowl that whenthe carriage is at the front end of the track, with the forward rollerson the inclined portion thereof the lower edge of the gate is well clearof the ground and in front of the bowl, as shown in Fig. 1. When thecarriage and gate are moved rearwardly a certain distance the carriagewill be lowered as the rollers move down the inclined portion of thetrack until, as the gate reached the blade 6, the lower edge of saidgate is substantially on a level with the bot tom of the bowl, as shownin Fig. 2.

The gate is to be pulled back by the power of the tractor from itsforemost position until it is at the rear end of the bowl or in theposition indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. This pull back mechanismis preferably arranged as follows:

Secured to the carriage at its rear end and on opposite sides are tackleblocks 16, while mounted on the beam 1 at its rear end and in transversealinement with the blocks 16 are similar blocks 17. A cable 18dead-ended on one side of the carriage extends about and between thepulleys of the blocks 16 and 17 on one side, then across to the otherblock 17. The cable then extends between and about the pulleys of saidother blocl 17 and those of the corresponding block 16, and finallyextend forward to a connection with a power drive on the tractor. Inthis manner the power of the tractor is increased according to thenumber of pulleys of the blocks and runs of the cable 18 and is utilizedto pull the gate back.

I have also provided an automatic return mechanism for the gate to pullthe same forward when the pull on the cable 18 is released. This may bedone in various ways but I preferably employ the following arrangement.

A cable 19 is attached to the front end of the gate or carriage andextends thence about a drum 20 mounted on the front end of the beam 1.This drum has a helical groove for the reception of the cable, in theoutermost end of which groove the cable is anchored. The drum has also aportion 21 of relatively small diameter about which is disposed ahelical spring 22. This spring is fastened at one end to the drum and atthe other end in connection with the frame, and is disposed so as tobeplaced under increasing tension by the rotation of the drum which is hadwith the unwinding of the cable from the drum as the gate movesrearwardly. Thus when the rear movement ceases and the pull on the cable18 is released, the spring 22 acts to rotate the drum in the oppositedirection and wind the cable thereon.

On account of the roller mounting of the carriage and to the fact thatthere is no load ahead of the gate, it offers little resistance to suchforward movement until the forward rollers of the carriage engage theinclined portion of the track. I have therefore arranged for an increasein the efficiency of the spring 22 from this point forwarded byproviding a cable transfer groove 23 leading from the adjacent end ofthe groove on the drum 20 to the surface of the relatively small drum21. The length of the cable 19 is such that with the rotation of thedrum it reaches the transfer groove and starts wrapping about the smalldrum when the carriage reaches the incline. Thus with a further rotationof the drum by the spring the full effectiveness of said spring isutilized without the disadvantageous and relatively low leverage hadwhen the cable is wrapping about the large drum 20.

In operation therefore the dirt is forced back into the bowl by theadvancing movement of the scraper until such dirt offers excessiveresistance to the advance of the tractor or until the dirt has beenloaded into the bowl up to two-thirds or three-fourths of its capacity.The tractor is then halted and the gate is moved back by operating thecable 18. The gate engages the front surface of the heap of dirt aheadof the blade 6 and forces such heap bodily into the bowl until the gateis substantially alined with the blade 6 and forms a closure for thefront end of the bowl, as shown in Fig. 2. Of course as much directpressure is necessary to force the dirt back as to pull the scraperforward but the gate has the advantage of being connected to the tractorby the leverage or power increasing tackle whereas the scraper itself isdirectly connected to the tractor and the power derived depends on theactual tractive effort of the tractor.

The scraper bowl may thus be made to have a great capacity while usingonly a medium sized tractor to hold the same. If desired some dirt maybe scraped into the bowl, pushed clear to the back by the gate, andanother load of dirt then scraped into the bowl to fill the remainingclear space in front of the first heap and so on until the bucket iscompletely filled.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I haveproduced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of theinvention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the device, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit ofthe invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A scraper including a bowl adapted to be hauled along the ground andopen at both ends, and a gate associated with the bowl normally disposedat the front end of the bowl and adapted to be moved rearwardly in andlengthwise of the bowl while engaged with the forward surface of theload of dirt scraped up by the advancing movement of the scraper.

2. A scraper including a bowl adapted to be hauled along the ground andopen at both ends, and means associated with the bowl for engaging theforward surface of the load of dirt scraped up by the advancing movementof the scraper and pushing such load back into the bowl selectivedistances.

3. A structure as in claim 1, with power increasing means formanipulating the gate.

4. A structure as in claim 1, with means supporting and guiding the gatein its longitudinal movement arranged to maintain the gate at a levelabove the bottom of the bowl when the gate is disposed ahead of thebowl.

5. A scraper including a frame adapted to be hauled along the ground, abowl rigidly supported by the frame and open at both ends, a gateadapted for movement lengthwise of and in the bowl from the rear endthereof to a point ahead of the scraping edge of the. bowl, means tosupport and guide the gate from the frame to permit of such movement,power means to pull the gate rearwardly, and automatic means to pull thegate to its foremost position when the rearward pulling action isreleased.

6. A scraper including a frame adapted to be hauled along the ground, abowl rigidly supported by the frame and open at both ends, a gateadapted for movement'lengthwise of and in the bowl from the rear endthereof to a point ahead of the scraping edge of the bowl, a carriagefrom which the gate depends, rollers on the carriage, tracks on theframe on which the rollers ride, said tracks being arranged relative tothe lower edge of the gate and to the bottom of the bowl so as to causesaid lower edge to lie close to said bottom when moving between thefront edges thereof and the tracks sloping upwardly at their forward endto correspondingly raise the gate, and means applied to the carriage tomove the same lengthwise of the bowl.

7. A scraper including a frame adapted to be hauled along the ground, abowl rigidly supported by the frame and open at both ends, a gateadapted for movement length- Wise of and in the bowl from the rear endthereof to a point ahead of the scraping edge of the bowl, means tosupport and guide the gate in such movement so that its bottom edge w1lll1e adjacent the bottom of the bowl when moving between the front andrear edges of said bottom and will be raised relative to the bottom whenahead of the same, and means to pull the gate from its foremost to itsrear most limit of position.

8. A scraper including a frame adapted to be hauled along the ground, abowl rigidly supported by the frame and open at both ends, a gateadapted for movement lengthwlse of and in the bowl from the rear endthereof to a point ahead of the scraping edge of the bowl, a carriagefrom which the gate depends, means on the frame to support and guide thecarriage between its limits of movement, tackle blocks fixed on the rearend of the frame, similar blocks on the rear end of the carriage, acable anchored at one end on the carriage and extending thence about andbetween the various blocks to a point ahead of the scraper, and separatemeans to pull the carriage forwardly.

9. A scraper including a frame adapted to be hauled along the ground, abowl rigidly supported by the frame and open at both ends, a gateadapted for movement lengthwies of and in the bowl from the rear endthereof to a point ahead of the scraping edge of the bowl, a carriagefrom which the gate depends, means on the frame to support and gulde thecarriage between its limits of move ment, power means to pull thecarriage rearwardly, a drum mounted on the frame ahead of the carriage,a cable on the drum and anchored on said drum and on the gate, saidcable being unwound from the drum with the rearward movement of thegate, and a spring applied to the drum and arranged to be placed underincreasing tension with the rotation of the drum in a cable unwindingdirection.

10. A scraper including a frame adapted to be hauled along the ground, abowl rigidly supported by the frame and open at both ends, a gateadapted for movement lengthwise of and in the bowl from the rear endthereof to a point ahead of the scraping edge of the bowl, a carriagefrom which the gate depends, rollers on the carriage, tracks on theframe on which the rollers ride, said tracks being arranged relative tothe lower edge of the gate and to the bottom of the bowl so as to causesaid lower edge to lie close to said bottom when moving between thefront edges thereof and the tracks sloping upwardly at their forward endto corresponding raise the gate, means applied to the carriage to pullthe same rearwardly, a drum mounted on the frame ahead of the bowl andcarriage, said drum comprising relatively large and small diameterportions, the large-diameter portion having a helical cable grooveleading down to the small diameter portion, a cable anchored in thegroove and extending to and secured on the gate, the cable unwindingfrom and rotating the drum with the rearward movement of the gate; and ahelical spring about the small portion of the drum and secured at oneend thereto and at the other end to the frame; said spring being placedunder increasing tension with the rotation of the drum in a cableunwinding direction and the cable dropping from the large to the smallportion of the drum. when, with the forward movement of the gate, thecarriage rollers reach the upwardly sloping portion of the tracks.

11. A structure as in claim 9, in which the drum is so formed that thelength of cable wound on the drum with each revolution of the same willbe less when the carriage is adjacent its forward limit of travel thanwhen the carriage is toward its rear limit of travel.

12. A scraper including a frame adapted to be hauled along the ground,an open ended bowl rigid with the frame, a gate adapted for movementlengthwise of and inthe bowl from the rear end of the same to a pointahead of the scraping edge of the bowl, a carriage from which the gatedepends, rollers on the carriage, tracks on the frame on which therollers ride, said tracks being substantially parallel to the bottom ofthe bowl for the length of the latter so that the lower edge of the gateis disposed close to said bottom and said tracks sloping upwardly aheadof the bowl to correspondingly raise the gate, and means applied to thecarriage to move the same along the tracks.

13. In a scraper having a gate movable lengthwise of the bowl of thescraper, means to pu'l the gate rearwardly, a drum mounted on thescraper ahead of the gate, said drum comprising relatively large andsmall diameter portions, there being a cable groove connecting theadjacent ends of said portions, a cable connected at one end to the gateand anchored at the other end to the large diameter portion of the drum,the cable unwinding from and rotating the drum in one direction with therearward movement of the gate, and spring means to rotate the drum inthe opposite direction; the cable passing onto the small-diameterportion of the-drum before the gate reaches its forward limit ofmovement.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ROBERT G. LE TOURNEAU.

